Project Description

COA’s Teen Program is Making an Impact

COA Youth & Family Centers is committed to providing holistic, high-quality youth development programs to youth living in Milwaukee. Programming is made possible by a large community of COA champions who believe in our vision of providing child-centered, family-focused, community-connected opportunities that expand possibilities, change lives, and build futures.

Read on to learn more about COA’s Teen Program at our Goldin Center and discover how COA Board Member, Nancy Farino, has seen COA make a difference in our communities.

Hello! My name is Nancy Farino and I’ve had the wonderful privilege of serving as a COA Board Member for the last six years. When I think about the 116-year storied history of COA nurturing and supporting Milwaukee children and families, six years is truly a moment in time!  The number of families that have been positively impacted by COA’s mission for well over a century, is simply countless.

I’d like to share with you one of our most recent success stories, about our teen program at COA’s Goldin Center located at 24th and Burleigh in the Amani neighborhood.

Through the hard work and dedication of COA’s program staff and the trust and connection they have built with program participants, our teen program is now at capacity, with daily full attendance. This effort was accomplished in less than a year,  at a critical post-COVID period of time.

Today, we have 40 teenagers that consistently attend our teen program every weekday from 3-9 pm. In fact, almost double that number (approximately 75 teens) are on a waiting list. Teenagers, as we know,  are not an easy sell when it comes to programming, and capturing the interest of 75 teenagers is no easy feat. A well-thought-out, creative, teen-driven program was developed by our Program Director, Nicole Thompson, and her team. Week by week the program number increased, mostly by word of mouth, with teenagers chatting up the cool, safe space in their neighborhood, staffed by people who inspire, encourage, and respect them. 

There are so many things about this program that I’d like to share, but one that is especially impactful is the daily dinner.  Our teenagers take turns, with the help of COA’s chef,  preparing and cooking the evening meal for all 40 of their peers.  Another group sets a table for 40,  and everyone shares a dinner hour together. How cool is that….? 

The teens also have access to weekly counseling/one-on-one therapy sessions through the generous donation of time and talent a local therapist provides to teens and COA staff through our newly re-opened health clinic at the center.

Programs like this make an immediate impact on our communities.  The need for quality teen programming has never been greater.  Your support today will result in the hiring of more staff so that we can increase the number of teens that can attend, and also enable COA to expand the teen program to include Saturday programming.     

I’d like to conclude by saying THANK YOU to all the wonderful Milwaukee area families and donors that have helped make COA what it is today: a small organization with a large impact.  I am proud to be part of this amazing organization and extend a special heartfelt thank you to the Blutstein family for providing me with an introduction, and for trusting me to help carry on their own family legacy of supporting COA over the past 30 years. 

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